Allison Iraheta's 'Friday I'll Be Over U': Does the teen 'Idol' have a hit on her hands?

Full disclosure: I loved Allison Iraheta on season 8 of American Idol more than Grey’s Anatomy loves having characters bump into each other on the elevator. But I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been a little bit worried about what kind of material the red-headed rocker would get for her forthcoming debut album — slated to drop Dec. 1 on 19 Recordings/Jive Records.

Right from the opening “Oh yeah,” you can tell Allison’s having a great time dragging her lie-telling crush back to the customer-service desk for a full-money refund, and the age-appropriate lyrics (“Got my heart by tellin’ lies/ You weren’t what you advertised”) seem designed to spark mass sing-alongs with teenage girls (both inner and actual) across the nation.

Even better, when Allison repeats the song’s title at the end of the second verse — “No, no, I ain’t gonna cry/ Go and be with her tonight/ I really don’t care what you do/ ‘Cause Friday I’ll be over you” — the tart twist of harmony comes off like an homage to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” (with hints of the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” and an opening guitar line that somehow reminds me of Blur’s “Song 2” thrown in for good measure).

That’s not a surprise, seeing how “Since U Been Gone,” like “Friday I’ll Be Over U,” was produced by Swedish pop maestro Max “U > You” Martin. If I had one complaint about “Friday,” it’s that Martin has ironed out Allison’s vocals a little too aggressively on the chorus: Seriously, why starch into submission something that would only benefit from some wonderfully lackadaisical wrinkles? But all that aside, it’s undeniably thrilling to hear a radio-ready pop track from a teenage diva whose voice is strong enough to hold up all by itself (73 autotuned layers and small army of backing vocalists not included).

Bottom line: “Friday I’ll Be Over You” isn’t even available for download yet, but I sense this one is gonna get the kind of repeat-function treatment on my iPod that’ll rapidly propel it to my Top 10 Most-Played list alongside Beyonce’s “Freakum Dress,” Jody Watley’s “A Beautiful Life” and Roisin Murphy’s “Overpowered.” Which is exactly the kind of real world, post-Idol response Allison will need to propel herself from reality TV contestant to Billboard-charting threat.